Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman, denounced PA chief Mahmoud Abbas for championing the destruction of Gaza tunnels and for rejecting a joint trade zone between Gaza and Egypt. Barhoum, in a statement on his Facebook page on Tuesday, said that Israel was not demanding a return to supervising the Rafah border terminal and did not ask for reviving the 2005 agreement that used to regulate the terminal’s work.Barhoum denounces Abbas over call for destruction of Gaza tunnels However, the spokesman noted that Abbas was asking for a return to that agreement that returns Israeli intelligence and European observers to monitor traffic on that crossing between Egypt and Gaza. Barhoum said that the agreement caused suffering among the almost two million Palestinians inhabiting the besieged enclave. Abbas told reporters during a single day visit to Cairo that goods should continue to pour into Gaza via what he called “legitimate crossings”. He also called for closure of the tunnels on condition that Gaza populace would not be affected by their closure.

The economy of the Gaza Strip lost an estimated $230 million in June due to the closure of smuggling tunnels by Egyptian authorities, Gaza's minister of economy said Tuesday.

Over 20,000 people have lost their jobs in the construction industry as a result of shortages in raw materials which usually arrive through the network of smuggling tunnels under the Gaza-Egypt border, minister of economy Alaa Rafati told Ma'an.

"The siege Israel imposed on Gaza is still in effect, though it was loosened at a certain point thanks to the tunnels," Rafati said.

Nearly 90 percent of projects funded by Qatar and Turkey have been suspended due to a lack of supplies to Gaza since June 15.

Supplies allowed through by Israel via the Kerem Shalom crossing only cover around 30 percent of the population's needs, Rafati said.

"We don't oppose closing the tunnels, but an alternative must be found first, which is opening the Rafah crossing for the entry of goods."

Egypt has destroyed dozens of tunnels since last August following the killing of 16 Egyptian soldiers in a militant attack near the Gaza fence.

Political unrest in the country and security measures in the Sinai peninsula have also caused a large slowdown in the tunnel trade, which has severely damaged Gaza's construction industry.

Egypt abruptly closed the Rafah terminal for five days in June after a rise in militant attacks in Sinai following the army's ouster of Islamist President Mohamed Mursi. It partially reopened the border on June 10.

At one stage an estimated 2,500-3,000 tunnels snaked their way under the desert fence but the network has shrunk markedly since 2010, when Israel eased some of the limits they imposed on imports into the coastal enclave.

The UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Robert Serry, said Tuesday that 80 percent of tunnels used to smuggle goods and arms into the Gaza Strip from Egypt are "no longer functioning" due to a crackdown by the Egyptian military after it ousted President Mohamed Morsi this month.

UN Middle East peace envoy Robert Serry told the UN Security Council that the Gaza Strip was experiencing "some serious shortages of fuel and basic building materials for which the tunnels had become the primary entry point due to severe restrictions on imports via the official crossings and the higher cost of fuel available from the West Bank and Israel."

The tunnel crackdown has gathered pace since the Egyptian military ousted president Morsi from power earlier this month.

"As a result of these actions against illegal activity, according to some estimates, 80% of the tunnels are no longer functioning," Serry said.

The impact of the fuel shortage in the Gaza strip is extended to the fishing sector, where the fishing boats have stopped working resulting in the shortage of fish quantity in the strip especially after the demolition of tunnels that were the main source to provide Gaza with fish.

Ahmad Farouq, 40, is one of the fishermen who stopped sailing due to not getting the required amounts of fuel.

We were looking for a solution to put an end to the Israeli persecution in the Gaza Sea, now we are looking for a solution to the fuel crisis, Farouq told PIC reporter.

He expressed hope that they could bring fish from El-Arish Sea. The whole issue is related to the Egyptian crisis, he added.

For his part, the fisherman Ahmad Zeidan noted that the ongoing fuel shortage reached an alarming level, warned of a real catastrophic situation in fishing sector.

He said that this tragic hardship adds more to the suffering they've been through during the blockade where they can't sail for more than 6 nautical miles in the Mediterranean Sea.

There are approximately 3550 fishermen in the Gaza strip and around 1000 fishing boats that had stopped working due to the fuel crisis, Head of the Fishermen’s Union Nizar Ayyash said.

Ayyash pointed out that 70% of the fishermen in the Gaza strip are unemployed. They are waiting for opening all Gaza crossing to put an end to the current crisis.

Gaza is witnessing a humanitarian crisis due to the Egyptian decision to close Rafah border crossing and to shut tunnels that are described as the only main lifeline to provide Gaza with fuel supplies, commodities, and goods that alleviate impacts of the Israeli siege which was imposed on the strip seven years ago.

A worker calls on smugglers as he brings gravel into a smuggling tunnel beneath the Gaza-Egypt border in Rafah.

The UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process said Tuesday that Egypt's crackdown on smuggling tunnels, together with ongoing Israeli restrictions, have created severe shortages in Gaza.

Robert Serry, speaking to the UN Security Council, said political developments in Egypt have led to an intensified campaign against smuggling tunnels along the shared border.

"As a result of these actions against illegal activity, according to some estimates, 80 percent of the tunnels are no longer functioning," Serry was quoted as saying by Reuters.

The crackdown has led to serious shortages of fuel and basic building materials, Serry added.

The top UN official warned that access into Gaza through legal crossings must be liberalized, otherwise economic and humanitarian conditions would further deteriorate.

"We encourage all parties not to forget the precarious situation in Gaza and to take advantage of the improved context between the parties to further lift the remaining closures," the Special Representative said, also calling on Egypt to keep open the Rafah crossing for people.

Gaza's minister of economy said earlier this week that the economy had lost an estimated $230 million in June due to the closure of smuggling tunnels by Egyptian authorities.

Over 20,000 people have lost their jobs in the construction industry as a result of shortages in raw materials which usually arrive through the network of smuggling tunnels under the Gaza-Egypt border, Alaa Rafati told Ma'an.

Egypt has destroyed dozens of tunnels since last August following the killing of 16 Egyptian soldiers in a militant attack near the Gaza fence.

Political unrest in the country and security measures in the Sinai peninsula have also caused a large slowdown in the tunnel trade, which has severely damaged Gaza's construction industry.

At one stage an estimated 2,500-3,000 tunnels snaked their way under the desert fence.

About 80 percent of tunnels used to smuggle goods and arms into the Gaza Strip from Egypt are "no longer functioning" due to a crackdown by the Egyptian military after it ousted President Mohamed Morsi this month, a UN official said on Tuesday.

UN Middle East peace envoy Robert Serry told the UN Security Council that the Gaza Strip was experiencing "some serious shortages of fuel and basic building materials for which the tunnels had become the primary entry point due to severe restrictions on imports via the official crossings and the higher cost of fuel available from the West Bank and Israel."

Cairo moved to close the tunnels after militants in the Egyptian Sinai desert killed 16 of its soldiers a year ago. Egypt said some of the gunmen had slipped into Sinai from nearby Gaza, an accusation denied by the Islamist Hamas authorities.

The tunnel crackdown has gathered pace since the Egyptian military removed Morsi from power earlier this month. Morsi's short-lived rule had already disappointed Hamas, since despite their shared ideology he appeared to be in no rush to open the Gaza border.

"As a result of these actions against illegal activity, according to some estimates, 80 percent of the tunnels are no longer functioning," Serry said.

Hamas, which taxes much of the traffic through the underground passages, has been hit hard by the losses. Ordinary Palestinians, many of them dependent on UN aid handouts, have seen prices for staple goods skyrocket.

"While the only Israeli crossing for goods ... has remained open and is handling increased quantities of consumers' goods, we are concerned that already difficult economic and humanitarian conditions in Gaza will further deteriorate, if access into Gaza through legal crossings of basic commodities like building materials is not liberalized," Serry said.

Israel still maintains strict control of all imports into Gaza to prevent arms reaching Hamas, which refuses to recognize the Jewish state and has often clashed with it. Under international accords, merchandise cannot be imported via Egypt.

Ala Al-Rafati, the Hamas economy minister, said on Sunday that tunnel closures since June had cost Gaza around $230 million - around one-tenth of the gross domestic product of the territory, where the unemployment rate among its 1.7 million residents is more than 30 percent.

Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haneyya said they are communicating with Egypt in order to push forward the national reconciliation, and called for finding an alternative to the tunnels between Gaza and Egypt which are being demolished by Egyptian army. Haneyya pointed out that the Gaza Strip has been under the blockade for more than six years, and that the Egyptian side that destroys the tunnels has to find an alternative for the entry of goods and basic needs to the Strip. He asserted that his government is discussing with Egypt ways to push forward the national reconciliation. Gaza Premier held the occupation fully responsible for the increasing numbers of orphans in the Gaza Strip, pointing out that "the repeated wars against the Palestinian people, which have killed a large number of citizens, caused an increase in the number of orphans and left many Palestinian families without their breadwinner." Egyptian security forces have continued to demolish more tunnels along the borders between Gaza and Egypt, since the dismissal of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi two weeks ago.

The Palestinian government in Gaza said that the closure of tunnels between the Strip and Egypt has led to a major fuel crisis in the besieged enclave. Spokesman for the transport ministry Khalil al-Zayyan told a press conference on Tuesday that around 20,000 public vehicles and 30,000 private vehicles were affected by the petrol crisis.

He said that many transport vehicles stopped working due to lack of fuel, which crippled their ability to transfer goods and other basic materials to shops.

The spokesman said that fuel across the tunnels contributed to enliven the Palestinian economy, adding that it pushed forward development process and car sales.

Zayyan said that persistence of the crisis would bring about a real disaster in the Palestinian transport sector.

He asked the Egyptian authorities to sympathize with the conditions in the Strip, which already suffer from repercussions of the Israeli blockade.

Al-Ahrar Palestinian movement has considered the new Egyptian leadership's decision to demolish tunnels between Gaza and Egypt and to tighten Gaza siege as an justified crime. Tunnels between Egypt and Gaza have been the main life line to the Palestinian residents in the Gaza Strip in light the Israeli siege imposed since 2006, the movement said. Al-Ahrar expressed surprise over the Egyptian decision that supports the Israeli schemes to tighten its siege on Gaza. The human rights movement stated that the new Egyptian leadership's decision is an unjustified crime against the Palestinian people, calling not to involve Gaza in the Egyptian internal affairs. Al-Ahrar called on the new Egyptian de facto government to end the Gaza siege or to find an alternative for the tunnels by opening the Rafah crossing. The General Command of Egyptian Armed Forces has ordered the demolition of all tunnels between Gaza and Egypt during the next few days before the start of the security operation in Sinai against armed groups.

The Israeli government has granted a special authorization to the Egyptian Military allowing the deployment of two infantry battalions in the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula, so that the army can operate against armed groups and smugglers.

The Israeli government has granted a special authorization to the Egyptian Military allowing the deployment of two infantry battalions in the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula, so that the army can operate against armed groups and smugglers.

The authorization was granted despite a clause in the Camp David peace treaty between the countries forbidding the Egyptian armed forces from deploying in that area.

Israel said that the Egyptian request does not affect the peace agreement between the two countries, and that the Egyptian deployment is part of a joint operations plan to “counter terror in the Sinai Peninsula”.

Israeli Ynet News have reported that the battalions will be deployed in Al-Arish and Rafah, and that the battalions will be providing support to armored vehicles, engineering and Special Forces already operating against armed groups in Sinai.

The army is trying to get more forces deployed in the area to avoid losing control over Sinai to extremist armed groups, and smugglers.

The Camp David Agreement between Israel and Egypt, signed in 1979, limits the number of forces in Sinai, and on both sides of the borders.

Israel previously approved an Egyptian request to deploy tanks and heavy equipment close to the border to ensure security on border areas with close to Gaza such as the Egyptian city of Rafah, and the Al-Arish.

An Egyptian army source said that the army prepared a comprehensive plan to fight “Jihadist groups” in Sinai, and added that the army killed, three days ago, 37 armed men reportedly planning to attack Egyptian army camps. On Sunday, the Egyptian army exchanged fire with a cell operating in Sinai.

The army also used Apache helicopters and war jets in bombarding various areas used by armed groups.

The Egyptian Army announced in managed to locate and destroy eight siege-busting tunnels across the border with the Gaza Strip over the last 48 hours, and that it located 23 containers holding a million liters of fuel. The army said that the Egyptian Border Guards located the containers that were ready to be smuggled to the coastal region, and also located the eight tunnels that have already been operational.

Egyptian security sources said that the army used bulldozers to remove fuel pumps, and that the campaign is ongoing to locate and destroy all tunnels across the border with Gaza.

The sources said that Egypt’s Army Chief, Colonel Abdul-Fattah El-Sissi, gave direct orders to the army to destroy all border tunnels by using explosives, heavy equipment and even by flooding them.

El-Sissi said that the army would not allow any party to “jeopardize Egypt’s national security, its economy, and national resources.”

The General Command of Egyptian Armed Forces have ordered the demolition of all tunnels between Gaza and Egypt during the next few days before the start of the security operation in Sinai against armed groups, Seventh Day Egyptian website revealed. The operation aims to prevent any “dangerous elements” from infiltrating into the Egyptian territories to target the Egyptian national security, the General Command claimed. Army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sissi has given directives to Major General Staff Taher Abdullah, head of the engineering corps, to destroy the tunnels in a short period by bulldozers or water immersion to thwart any attempt to target the Egyptian national security or to smuggle food or fuel products to Gaza in light the economic crisis prevailing in Egypt. The sources added that the Egyptian Army leadership ordered to check all names that entered Sinai through the Rafah crossing during the past 6 months in order to arrest any suspect that belongs to “extremist groups”. Tunnels between Egypt and Gaza have been the main life line to the 1.7 million residents of Gaza since the Israeli siege was imposed in 2006 following Hamas's victory in the Palestinian parliamentarian elections which was internationally agreed upon.

The Palestinian ministry of economy said it is embarking on finding solutions and alternatives to face the economic challenges and obstacles which are caused by the frequent closure of border crossings and tunnels. Deputy minister of economy Hatem Awaida stated during a radio program on Monday that the amount of fuel shipments that enters Gaza is available sufficiently during the current period, but the limited shipments smuggled through the Rafah tunnels were affected considerably by the internal events in Egypt.

Awaida added that Gaza purchased one million liters of fuel during the last four days.

He hailed the general petroleum authority for its role in solving the fuel crisis and distributing the fuel quotas to all gas stations in Gaza.

As for the impacts of the internal events in Egypt on the Palestinian economy in Gaza, the deputy ministry stated that the closure of the Rafah border crossing and tunnels adversely affected the economy, especially since Gaza suffers from an acute shortage of vital supplies.

Palestinian security sources said that petrol supplies started returning to Gaza Strip from Egypt through the Rafah border tunnels though in low quantities. They said that thanks to calm returning to the border area, petrol and fuel for the Gaza power station were pumped through the tunnels again to the besieged enclave. Traffic in the border tunnels, through which petrol and foodstuffs and other supplies enter the besieged Strip, had come to a complete halt due to the ongoing Egyptian incidents. The stoppage led to a series of crises in the Strip including paralyzing the construction of various projects due to the absence of basic materials such as fuel and cement.

According to Egyptian newspaper Al-Shorouk, the Egyptian army has destroyed more than 40 smuggling tunnels in Sinai in order to prevent infiltration of terrorists into the peninsula, said a senior military official.

Egyptian newspaper Al Gomhuria reported that the army will launch an operation together with the Egyptian air force to eliminate terrorist networks in Sinai. A senior official quoted by the paper referred to the possibility of Israel objecting to the operation and said that "the matter in general is not related to Israel, but to the national security of Egypt."

Smugglers resumed pumping fuel to the Gaza Strip through tunnels under the Egyptian border on Sunday, easing a fuel crisis in the enclave, an official said.

Muhammad al-Abadlah, a spokesman for the federation of fuel companies, told Ma'an that enough fuel was being smuggled in to partially meet needs in Gaza.

Meanwhile government official Abdul-Nasser Muhanna said the fuel crisis would be resolved soon.

Muhanna, an official in the general petroleum department, did not give any details on the source of the fuel.

Egypt's crackdown on smuggling tunnels created a crippling fuel crisis in recent days, causing long queues at gas stations across Gaza.

The health ministry in Gaza warned Saturday that hospitals' fuel reserves were down to 20 percent.

Egypt continued to close smuggling tunnels along the Gaza border on Sunday.

Egypt's army used sand to seal several smuggling tunnels near the Brazil neighborhood, a Ma'an reporter said.

An Egyptian military official told Ma'an that soldiers seized seven boxes of ammunition at a tunnel opening in the al-Barahmeh neighborhood of Rafah on Sunday. He added that the army had deployed to the area to stop people entering through tunnels.

The official said Egypt's army was preparing for a major operation in Sinai following a series of militant attacks in the peninsula after the military ousted Islamist President Mohamed Mursi on Wednesday.

Egyptian soldiers and armored vehicles have deployed heavily along the Gaza border for two weeks.

Palestinian deputy minister of economy Hatem Oweida warned on Sunday of a humanitarian catastrophe in the besieged Gaza Strip if the fuel crisis kept worsening due to the closure of tunnels between Gaza and Egypt. In a local televised interview, Oweida said that the crisis of fuel and other goods in Gaza are attributed in general to the repeated closure of commercial crossings, noting that Karam Abu Salem crossing is the only terminal opened intermittently by the Israeli regime and used currently to bring shipments of fuel and goods into Gaza.

Oweida affirmed that the Palestinian government in Gaza is working on providing solutions to the crisis to meet the citizens' daily needs of fuel.

He noted that the existing fuel amounts in Gaza are used for the time being to run vital service facilities such as hospitals and the power plant.

The fuel crisis can be felt clearly on Gaza streets as vehicular traffic has declined; in addition, the recent closure of most of the tunnels because of the internal events in Egypt caused all construction projects that are carried out by the government to come to a halt.

About 95% of border tunnels between the Gaza Strip and Egypt had been closed, the PIC reporter in southern Gaza said on Sunday. The reporter quoted eyewitnesses as saying that fuel supplies and construction materials in addition to various goods and foodstuff were halted. He pointed to unprecedented Egyptian security measures on the Egyptian side of the border where the tunnels are located. On the Palestinian side of the border the area looked deserted with no trucks or workers seen as calm was marked after all machines that used to work inside those tunnels and generators stopped functioning, the reporter pointed out. Owners of many of those tunnels told the reporter that bringing in goods via those tunnels has come to a standstill and added that Egyptian forces were deployed in a manner not witnessed before. The impact of the closure was noticeably felt in Gaza markets as many goods, construction materials, and fish went into scarcity as well as fuel. Israel’s tight control of all Gaza crossings and sea and land routes led to many shortages in the past and present in the tiny coastal enclave. On the other side of the border, Egypt is witnessing political turmoil as supporters and opponents of president Mohammed Morsi rally for and against him in Cairo streets and many other governorates.

Israeli army sources reported Thursday [June 13 2013] that the army located two tunnels under a section of the Annexation Wall, close to the northern West Bank city of Qalqilia.

Israeli daily, Maariv, reported that the Palestinians usually enter Israeli through week spots, such as cutting an opening in the barbed wire fence, but recently moved to “Gaza-style tunnels”, according to the paper.

It said that the arm recently located two tunnels dug under the concert Annexation Wall, close to Taybeh town, in the Triangle area, bordering the West Bank.

Israeli military and security sources have reported that the tunnels are “a serious cause for concern”, and added that “despite the fact that those tunnels are used to smuggle Palestinian workers into Israel, they could be used for carrying out attacks and for abducting Israeli soldiers”.

Israeli occupation police closed main streets leading to the Old City in occupied Jerusalem on Thursday, local sources said. The Israeli decision to close the streets came due to the preparations for the organization of the Formula 1 race, which will take place on Thursday and Friday in the occupied city of Jerusalem with the participation of the Ferrari World team, under the sponsorship Kaspersky Company specialized in computer protection programs.

The police declared, in a statement, their intention to close the streets leading to al-Khalil, Asbat, and Al Magharibah Gates in the Old City on Thursday and Friday, according to Jerusalemite sources.

The race will be launched from the neighborhoods in the western part of Jerusalem towards the eastern part, in the vicinity of the Old City wall.

For its part; the Jerusalem's Sports Federations Group asserted that the Ferrari race comes within the framework of the Judaization plans implemented by the occupation in the city of Jerusalem.

Meanwhile, the Israeli police, accompanied with bulldozers and trucks, evacuated on Wednesday Wadi Joz car park east of Jerusalem claiming that it belongs to Israel Lands Administration (ILA).

Siyam, Abu Ta'a, and Farhan families confirmed that the car park was established on their own lands, declaring their intention to prosecute the ILA for its racial policy.

The families confirmed that the Israeli authorities have notified them since 6 months to evacuate the car park.

The park owners affirmed that they have official documents confirming their ownership of the land, where they appealed to the Israeli Municipal Authorities which permitted them to rehabilitate the park to be used as a car park, however they were surprised yesterday by the ILA breaking into the park.

Hamas movement said that PA chief Mahmoud Abbas’s statement on Gaza tunnels was ruining Egyptian-Palestinian relations. Hamas said in a terse statement on Tuesday that the statement constituted a clear incitement for blockading and starving the Gaza Strip.

The movement said that Abbas’s statement on reconciliation was increasing tensions and did not serve efforts for achieving reconciliation. Abbas told Saudi newspaper Al-Watan that the tunnels were threatening Egyptian national security.

Friday evening, May 24 2013, Palestinian medical sources have reported that one Palestinian was killed and another was injured when a siege-busting tunnel collapsed on them, in Rafah, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip.

The sources said that Hamad Odah Abu Shallouf, 25, was buried under the rubble of the collapsed tunnel. Medics and rescue teams arrived at the scene and located him body, one resident was also injured in the incident.

At least 232 Palestinians have been killed in similar accidents since the Israeli siege was imposed on Gaza in June of 2007. This number includes 20 Palestinians who were killed after the Israeli army bombarded several tunnels as they were in them.

The siege has left Gazan hospitals and medical center out of basic and specialized supplies and equipment, an issue that has led to the death of more than 400 patients, including infants and children. Many patients died while waiting permits from Israel to cross the border for medical treatment.

The Hamas government in Gaza is willing to close down all smuggling tunnels under the Egyptian border once a commercial crossing opens, the undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Tuesday.

"We do not want the tunnels in the first place," said Ghazi Hamad. "They burden citizens and cause hundreds of fatalities, but they are essential because there is no alternative."

"The tunnels issue can be resolved by finding a solution that balances the security needs of Egypt and the humanitarian needs of the Gaza Strip through lawful commercial transactions monitored by both," he added in a statement.

The tunnel industry thrived under Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip, providing a lifeline by smuggling goods into the besieged enclave. Egypt has cracked down on the network, flooding tunnels with sewage over fears that they are being used to smuggle weapons and fighters into the restive Sinai Peninsula.

Egypt's reopening of the Rafah crossing on its border with Gaza in May 2011 eased travel for Palestinians, many of whom had not been able to leave the enclave since 2007. However, commercial goods do not pass through the terminal, and Palestinians in Gaza still rely on the tunnels.

On Friday, Egyptian police closed the Rafah terminal in protest at the kidnapping by gunmen of seven Egyptian servicemen, several of whom worked at the crossing.

Hamad said the closure had added to the misery of Palestinians in Gaza, particularly students and sick people stranded at the border.

He added that Israel was the only beneficiary of strained relations between Egypt and Gaza, and that residents of Gaza suffered the most from the tension.

Egyptian authorities kept the Rafah crossing with Gaza closed for a fifth consecutive day on Tuesday, despite efforts by Palestinian officials to reopen the terminal.

A Gaza based center for human rights said that over 2,400 Palestiniansv were stranded at both sides of the crossing. The group urged Egyptian authorities to open the crossing and "exclude it from the internal affairs of both sides."

Passengers told Ma'an on Monday that they were making do with cardboard and newspapers to sleep at night, and to avoid the heat of the sun during the day. Some sleep in mosques, and very few can afford to pay for a hotel room in el-Arish.

A man was killed on Saturday when a smuggling tunnel in Rafah collapsed, a Gaza medical official said.

Ashraf al-Qidra told Ma'an that Mousa Ghunaim, 26, was pronounced dead on arrival at a Gaza hospital after a tunnel collapsed while he was working.

In January, the Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights urged the Gaza government to implement better safety measures and assess the benefits of the tunnel network as a whole, saying 232 people had been killed in collapsing tunnels.

Israel imposed its blockade for what it called security reasons in 2007. The United Nations has appealed for it to be lifted.

Egyptian security officials told Ma'an that 154 tunnels had been destroyed and 94 would be demolished soon. Security forces are struggling to destroy some 28 tunnels constructed under residential properties.

All the tunnel openings have been blocked temporarily with rocks, security sources added.

Israel imposed its blockade for what it called security reasons in 2007. The United Nations has appealed for it to be lifted.

At one stage an estimated 2,500-3,000 tunnels snaked their way under the desert fence but the network has shrunk markedly since 2010, when Israel eased some of the limits they imposed on imports into the coastal enclave.

All goods still have to be screened before entering Gaza and Israel says some restrictions must remain on items that could be used to make or to store weapons.

This ensures the tunnels are still active, particularly to bring in building materials. Hamas also prefers using the tunnels to smuggle in fuel, thereby avoiding custom dues that are payable on oil crossing via Israel.

The Egyptian TV reported that the Egyptian Border Police destroyed several border tunnels with the Gaza Strip, including tunnels meant for smuggling cars into Gaza.

According to the report, the Egyptian security forces located, two days ago, a tunnel that was used for smuggling weapons coming from Libya, and destroyed the tunnel after confiscating weapons and explosives that were about to be smuggled into Gaza.

Some of the destroyed tunnels were specifically designed to enable the smuggling of cars

Egypt also arrested seven Palestinians carrying large sums of money meant to be smuggled them into the coastal region.

On Tuesday, February 26, an Egyptian court ruled Tuesday that all border tunnels between the Gaza Strip and Egypt “must be closed and demolished, as they are draining the Egyptian economy and resources, in addition to the fact that some tunnels are used for smuggling weapons into Gaza”.

The ruling was made amidst an ongoing Egyptian campaign that demolished dozens of tunnels, and flooded them with toxic wastewater since the beginning of the year.

Earlier in January, the Egyptian Security Services announced that they managed to uncover a weapons’ storage facility loaded with advances missiles, including antitank and antiaircraft missiles that weapons dealers intended to smuggle into the Gaza Strip via border tunnels.

It is worth mentioning that at approximately 232 have been killed in tunnel collapse accidents, including twenty Palestinians who were killed after the Israeli army bombarded several tunnels as they were in them. Around 800 Palestinians have been injured in these incidents.

Tunnels are also used for smuggling urgently needed medical supplies and medications missing in Gaza Strip hospitals and medical centers due to the Israeli siege.

The siege has left Gazan hospitals and medical center out of basic and specialized supplies and equipment, an issue that has led to the death of more than 400 patients, including infants and children. Many patients died while waiting permits from Israel to cross the border for medical treatment.